Sinnoh - Pastoria City: Airport
“Welcome to Sinnoh's Pastoria City.”
The Air hostess for the flight announces upon touchdown on the runway.
"We hope you all have a safe journey into our beautiful region for those travelling here for the first time and wish any return travellers a hearty welcome back, what took you so long?"
The host laughs as people head off from the plane, an Abra watching silently from her shoulder.
The girls excitedly disembark from the plane, Anna gives an appreciative wave to the brave avian Pokémon and riders that protected her during their flight.
One charming lad flashes a smile her way and she can see a pretty golden red feather in his cap. His Corviknight almost glowing with a metallic black sheen in the late afternoon light.
As the girls collect their bags from the terminal they are greeted by a familiar camera man and crew who continue filming. Past the visitors gate are people holding up signs and Pokémon from the region are with the trainers.
Strangely most of the residents have different coloured scarfs around their necks even though the weather is so sunny and warm outside.
Pokémon that seem most commonly around the trainers include Chimchars, Marill's and little blue and pink Shellos. The girls are greeted by the crew holding up signs and are directed to a nearby bus to take them to their hotels.
As they exit the airport with their luggages, they are reminded of how different this place is. They are literally on a new continent.
Aipom swing from the coconut trees whilst Wingull cry in the sky to each other as they prepare to dive for fish to eat from the ocean around a kilometer away.
The girls hand their luggages over to some Machop who load up their supplies and proceed to board the bus. Once on the bus, they can see they are the last to arrive. The guide smiles at them patiently as they take their seats and then he proceeds to give the passengers a quick briefing.
”Welcome all, we will check you into a local hotel. Once all the expedition arrives we will arrange to have a meeting and talk to journalists before we depart on our voyage.
Until that time, you are asked to stay within the confines of the town and surrounding areas."
Jessicas tummy rumbles loudly and she looks to Anna sheepishly whilst the speaker looks pointedly at the girls and a few others.
"If you wish to go eat out before checking in to the hotel this will be at your own expense. The hotel meals are all paid for though, so it’s your call.”
With that they proceed to sit back down at the front of the bus next to the drivers seat.
Anna gives a little laugh "Well now is as good a time as any for us to chase down that Shellder Kung Pow that you owe me."
The bus pulls up to a grand looking hotel and they prepare to head off towards the bright neon lights of what can only be described as the tourist area of town. Before they get far though they are stopped by the announcer who was sitting at the front of the bus.
"Girls, before you head off you are supposed to have a chaperone. It was at the request of your parents that you are not allowed to go on your own until you have caught a Pokémon for yourselves.”
The camera crew seem excited at the prospect of joining the girls out on the town, however they quickly decline the offer. Although slightly disappointed they head off to chase other explorers for more content for the reality series.
The girls turn and give the guide massive puppy dog eyes as they stare at his Makuhita sitting in the chair next to him.
“How about you lend us one of your Pokémon and we promise to be back in less than an hour?”
The guy thinks it through and know what it was like to be young and on a journey. He agrees and allows his Makuhita to come along on the condition that they listen to the requests of his Pokémon.
They readily agree and skip off in the direction of the restaurant stands with the fighting Pokémon trailing behind them.
They pass other trainers and residents of the area. They are amazed to see the exotic Sinnoh Pokémon including trainers with Chimchar, Marill, Wingull. By the beach, they can see Goldeen, Barboach and Shellos playing where the sand meets the water.
The girls continue to walk and stop when they hear the sounds of battle.
They turn to see the end of a fight with an Absol fighting a truly large Mudkip upon the sand. The Absol viciously smashes into the water Pokémon and knocks him out, but if the churned up sand is any indication, this was no easy fight for either Pokémon.
The Makuhita ushers them along and they can’t see any more of the fight or any words exchanged by the trainers. They do notice an intimidating scarred trainer watching on though with a Vulpix with a beautiful coat at his side.
They reach the store as it starts to get dark outside. The glow of the neon sign clearly advertising for the tourists the exotic food of the region.
However who cares as long as the food is good. They approach the waiter and are taken to a table.
This is a Pokémon friendly cafe and the Makuhita is allowed to sit with them.
The girls order three servings of the Shellder Kung Pow and an assortment of other dishes. The Makuhita is pleasantly surprised that they were feeding him as well and digs in with gusto.
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The Shellder Kung Pow was delicious and had various spices and lime like flavourings across the flesh. To describe it, simply think spicy sticky scallops with lime dressing lightly pan seared.
Other dishes they observed being served included a large whole Whiscash. Similar in its texture and flavour to a river fish such as a Barramundi or Cod. It was served with lemongrass and other oriental seasonings with some soy sauce, ginger and black beans for additional flavourings.
"Hey Jess, next time can we get that dish?"
Jess was about to agree when she looked at the price tag. At $10,000 Pokémon dollars the price was VERY expensive. I guess that's not exactly suprising for a relatively strong evolved Pokémon to be chosen for a meal instead of a battling partner.
It was also risky to eat something that was protective of their own species. Hence why one would never see anybody eating dragon type meat. At least not in public.
Other meats one would never seen eaten include Poison types for obvious reasons and ghost types... again obvious reasons. Can't eat something that's not actually there. And metal and rock types - Humans just can't stomach those sorts of food... literally.
The girls let out a satisfied burp and the Makuhita follows suit with an enormous belch of his own. The girls jump in their chairs at how loud it was.
"Wow, Makuhita. Are you sure you didn't just learn an attack move just then?"
"Hahaha, yeah instead of Litleo's Noble Roar maybe you learned Ignoble Burp?"
*Hita?* The Pokémon just stared at them with an obviously unimpressed look on his face. He then started to instruct the girls that it was time to leave.
The girls quickly paid for the meal, tipped the waiter and rushed after their 'chaperone' as they didn't want to get into trouble and it was getting late.
They walked back past the beach, the signs of an even larger battle on the sand visible and being cleaned up. Shards of glass mixed into the sand meant it would probably take hours to clean up the mess caused.
"Hey sorry Makuhita, was just joking. We really appreciated you escorting us and I hope you enjoyed the meal.
The Makuhita seemed mollified and content with the apology, gave an affirmative grunt and continued on to the hotel at a more moderate pace.
The girls arrived back at the hotel absolutely exhausted, not used to physical excercise of any sort. Accepted their key cards to their room and collapsed in a heap on their respective beds.
"Night Anna."
Jess got no response apart from the sound of loud snores coming from Anna's bed. Jess turned off the light excited to see what tomorrow would bring. She set an alarm for earlier to make sure they had some time to quickly shower after their flight as they looked pretty dishevelled and if they were going to be on camera in that state, she just knew her mother would have some paticularly cutting choice words for her later.
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Jess woke to the sound of her phone alarm going off. The sound was a CHUUUUU as if Pikachu was setting of a lightning attack. Or potentially trying to let off a giant poop when they were constipated. Probably a similar sound.
Jess threw a pillow at the still snoring Anna and headed off to the shower to clean up for the rest of the day.
A crusty eyed Anna walked into the bathroom as Jessica walked out. She threw a towel at her face. "Go shower, if your mum see's you on camera like that she will have an aneurysm."
The girls change into some more formal clothing (not pyjamas) and head downstairs to the breakfast buffet.
They both load their plates up with various breakfast treats including pancakes, strawberries and Swinub cheese croissants.
After breakfast, they head into the auditorium reserved for expedition guests only. And maybe the 20-30 media and VIPs as well. Jonathan sits on his chair up on the stage as everyone fills in.
> "I trust you all enjoyed your breakfast and stay so far. We will leave in a few days as we are still awaiting a few more arrivals who are currently still travelling to reach here. Yes, there will be a former GYM leader joining us however I won't spoil the surprise. I've been told that you just need to watch our series to find out.
>
> I'd like to take this opportunity to inform both the explorers joining us as well as the general audience, viewers and media about the main reason why the BLACK ZONE is so dangerous for unprepared trainers.
>
> The primary reason is the lack of ambient energy in the BLACK ZONE areas mean that it will be far harder for your Pokémon to utilise abilities and harness their energy. This is also why BLACK ZONE Pokémon tend to attack far more with physical attacks and objects in their environment instead of summoning elemental powers.
>
> That is the primary reason we will be choosing to travel slowly to our final destination in the arctic. We will take a month to get there to give trainers and their Pokémon the time to acclimatise to the change in ambient energy and hopefully give them an opportunity to adapt and improve their capabilities."
Murmurs break out amongst the crowd.
"Does anybody have any questions or concerns they would like to voice at this stage?"
Anna quickly raises her hand.
"Yes, I'll let our youngest adventurer go first. Please state your name and then ask your question."
"Anna Sioutos, I'd like to know what those such as myself and my friend Jessica will be doing for the month since we don't have any Pokémon?"
"Well Anna that's easy. I plan on having you train with the other passengers and their Pokémon, learn from them, see how they adapt. Additionally I will be lending you my father's Pikachu so that you may practice ideas with him. In anticipation of you catching your own Pokémon in the near future."
Jonathan Ketchum scans the room for more questions. And picks some people at random. A man with a gold and red feather towards the back of the group asks a question that caught Jonathan by surprise.
"What if we are unable to fulfil your mission and deem the expedition a failure or too dangerous to continue?"
The crowd goes silent and stares at Jonathan for an answer.
"Well in the unlikely event that this happens then we will turn around and head back with all due speed for safer waters. I'm not crazy enough to put all our lives at risk if it seems that we are fighting a losing battle. Sorry what was your name again?"
"I don't believe I stated it. I'll be coming along as part of your avian support team. I'm Harvey, a pleasure to be at your service."
With that, further questions are asked and the presentation comes to an end.
"Kelly Oak will now provide details on the journey to the arctic and the expected time frames and goals"
A beautiful lady in a lab coat sitting next to Jonathan stands up and addresses the crowd.
> "Hi everybody, as you all know we will depart in a few days and our journey will take us far past your modern map of the known regions. In all honesty, all the areas after the first week are considered unchartered."
She brings up a map which dots out the anticipated route of the voyage.
> "Having said that, the ARCTIC BLACK ZONE is distinct in that there is a definite drop in ambient mana within a 100 Kilometre radius around the area. I personally theorise that there is something in the centre of this dead zone causing all the ambient mana to be depleted however this is not the goal of our current expedition.
>
> If someone is willing to find out for me whether my hypothesis is true, I will happily fork out a fortune in reward money if they can show me or bring me whatever causes this phenomenon.
>
> With that said thank you all for participating in this expedition and I hope you gain a greater understanding of yourselves and your Pokémon. Additionally I hope you are lucky enough to catch some unique Pokémon which are known to frequent black zone areas.
>
> For each new species discovered or caught, there is always reward money from the Pokémon league for contributing to our knowledge base."
Kelly Oak goes to sit down and Jonathan stands back up.
"I hope you all take the time to get whatever daily necessities you deem important to you. Although the SS Ketchum (An exploratory Ice Breaker cruise ship) has a Pool, GYM, Restaurant and Bar, Pokémart and Pokémon Centre and shopping centre, I strongly recommend you stock up on things you might need for the voyage."